FROM THE DEPTHS
WATER IS LIFE – The healing water and drinking fountains
Water runs through the town, water runs through the town’s history, and water is still ever-present today. It is Bad Vilbel’s most important element. The Nidda gave rise to the town, as trade routes crossed it at a ford.
The real treasure of the town, however, lies underground: the healing and mineral water has brought Bad Vilbel prosperity and renown.
It was once bottled at around 30 spring-bottling businesses, and to this day it makes a significant contribution to the town’s economy. Bad Vilbel also owes the title “Bad” to its healing water, which once unfolded its healing effect in the form of baths as well.
Five public drinking fountains invite you to sample the water and take drinking cures:
In the foyer of the Dorint Hotel by the spa gardens (01), in the VILCO (02, only during the Citizens’ Office opening hours), at the spring temple near the Vilco (03), at the Town Hall Bridge (04) and in the Quellenhof (05).
You can find more information about each drinking point by clicking the map’s markers with your mouse.
The state-recognized healing water is recommended for stomach, intestinal and metabolic disorders. For drinking cures, two cups per day are suitable. But enjoying the healing water is also simply wonderfully refreshing after a long hike or bike ride.
01_ DORINT HOTEL
02_ VILCO
03_ SPRING TEMPLE ON THE NIDDA RIVERSIDE PATH
04_ FOUNTAIN AT THE TOWN HALL BRIDGE
05_ QUELLENHOF
WATER IS LIFE – The history
In 1864, innkeeper Johann Philipp Wilhelm Hinkel tapped a spring on the family property on Frankfurter Straße. It laid the foundation for Bad Vilbel’s development as a town of springs. From 1900, Hinkel’s son Fritz called the company Hassia-Mineralbrunnen-Sprudel. Of the more than 30 bottling businesses that once existed, it is the only one still operating today—now as Hassia Mineralquellen Bad Vilbel, one of Germany’s leading mineral water producers.
The mineral water, later recognized as healing water, is a pure natural product with curative, soothing and preventive properties.
The mineral content of the healing spring is shaped by rock types that formed millions of years ago. The water from a healing spring travels a long way up from the depths. Along the way, it dissolves minerals and salts from rocks and layers of earth. It becomes healing water. The carbon dioxide in a healing spring is a natural gas that formed when volcanoes died out and magma solidified deep inside the earth. The carbon dioxide rises to the surface and, with its mechanical pressure, helps the mineral-rich deep water emerge into the light of day.
WATER IS LIFE – For body and mind
In the spacious Burgpark, alongside other highlights, you’ll also find a modern Kneipp facility with a water-treading pool and arm basins, as well as a barefoot path and an herb display bed.
The Nidda and its surroundings form a green ribbon that runs through all of Bad Vilbel and on to the districts of Dortelweil and Gronau. No roads disturb the pleasure of strolling through the parks on the left and right banks, as is common elsewhere along rivers; further on, they transition into renaturalized, natural riverbanks.
Each section has its own charm and offers a wide variety of places to experience and relax.
The many bridges let you switch sides of the river so you can explore it all.
